Steampunk Apologetics

For those who aren't in the know, I will try to explain steampunk as I explained it to my mom:

Steampunk is a genre marked by the mixture of neo-Victorian artistic sensibilities with the modern mixed feelings toward technology. It's marked by a mixture of bustle gowns and clockwork, safari suits and urban decay.

What does it mean in jewelry and accessories? Lace. Ruffles. Boots. Goggles. Pith helmets. Tailoring. Pinstripes. Romanticism. Hats. Leather. Bronze. Corsets. Overcoats. Victoriana. Technological leftovers. Gunmetal. Cameos. And above all, gears.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, both graphic novels and movie, is arguably steampunk. The works of Jules Verne are a large part of the basis of steampunk. There's a steampunk GURPS book called Castle Falkenstein which my current tabletop campaign is based on.

I've seen steampunk described thus (paraphrasing from several sources here, including The Steampunk Workshop's fashion blog: "Well dressed, meticulously groomed, elegantly mannered, and ever prepared for the imminent collapse of society."

Why the collapse of society? Steampunks don't really think they're living out the Victorian past, though we try to adopt a little of it into our clothing, manners and lifestyle. Steampunk is more based on a dissatisfaction with modernism which draws from all eras but tends to settle on or about the days when the sun never set on the British Empire (though this is certainly not to say that Britain is the only geographical source!) That dissatisfaction results in a drive to beautify the cold, anonymous technologies that surround us, and to be less dependent on others to provide them for us. As someone once said: "Hate the factory, love the machine."

Many steampunks create machines and electronics and clockwork with their own hands. There's a general consensus that self-reliance and DIY are highly desirable.

So what's steampunk to me?

Well, it gives me a sense of purpose to the outdated things I know how to do. I may not be able to build a clock or a tiny hydroelectric generator, which are in some ways the high point of steampunk skills, but .... I can use all sorts of hand tools (you need eight or nine different kinds of pliers at the very least to make all the jewelry I make). I can grow a garden from seed without chemicals. I can make candles, soup and soap. I can start a fire from the embers of one ten hours old with no lighter fluid, paper or matches, and then I can cook a meal over it. I can make fresh paper from junk mail. I can dry flowers and herbs. I can sew both by hand and machine. I'm ready for the collapse of technological society, which gives me a weird and obscure sense of comfort. It's fatalistic, but there's not really all that much pessimism to it.

And on an aesthetic level? It gives me some theme to the fashions I like. A mild steampunk look blends well with my jeans and preppy layered tops, my mismatched knee socks and long skirts, and my obsession with lacy underthings. What are my steampunk elements? I love men's workboots (for reasons of comfort, not fulfilling lesbian stereotypes). I have a vast collection of fedoras. I make my own fascinator clips. It works equally well with my burnt-orange wool overcoat, my military-style sweatshirt-fleece jacket, and my elegant fringed shawls. The gears and chain mixed cameos and filigree, the warrior-chic mixed with the elegance of the romantic Victorianism, appeals to me on the same level where I love to mix fimo with pearls and rust with sparkle.

One of these days, I'm going to realize that all my rants end up at the same place -- i.e., "Because it marries non-matching elements harmoniously! Isn't that COOL?!?!" -- and just go straight from point A to point B without examining all the territory in between in such anal-retentive detail.